English description: The use of models and pattern sheets in Antiquity is still much discussed among scholars. While lost for other works of art, a considerable number painted on papyrus and used in textile work shops has been found in Egypt. The present publication emerges from a detailed study of these models with special focus on common characteristics of the patterns as well as on workshop practices transferring the information on papyrus to woven textiles. In the second part the model sheets are compared with woven textiles thus making evident the way of transformation from model to textile. The publication is not restricted to textile specialists only but touches questions of archaeology, art history and economic history as well. German description: Die Frage nach antiken Mustervorlagen und Werkstattorganisation hat in jungster Zeit neue Aktualitat erfahren. Eine besondere Art von Vorlagen stellt eine uber hundert Beispiele umfassende Gruppe von Textilmustern auf Papyrus dar. In der vorliegende Publikation wird zum ersten Mal gezeigt, warum und wie solche Vorlagen in den Webateliers verwendet worden sind. Ein abschliessendes Kapitel beschaftigt sich mit der Bedeutung von Webvorlagen auch fur andere kunstlerische Bereiche. An den einleitenden Text schliessen sich ein ausfuhrlicher Katalog mit 100 s/w-Tafeln sowie 48 synoptische Farbtafeln an.

The cultural and historical setting of the Near East provides a unique opportunity to study a longer usage of sealing practices in administration and magic, which extends beyond the constraints of a specific time period or region. Comparing ancient practices with more recent ones can offer important insights into the development of sealing practices and provide answers to specific questions related to the handling of seals and the social status of the seal bearer. This collection of papers is the result of the workshop "Seals and Sealing Practices from Ancient Times until the Present Day. Developments in Administration and Magic through Cultures." The meeting was organized by the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo on December 2-3, 2009, on the occasion of the annual Cleveringa lecture, delivered by Prof. Dr. Petra Sijpesteijn from the University of Leiden. It had the financial support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Cairo. Since the initiative towards the workshop was taken by staff members of the NVIC, the focus was on Egypt but other cultures in the Near East and Central Asia were also considered. Following up on the workshop, the present volume retains the geographical and chronological scope, but added a few contributions dealing with the Greco-Roman and Byzantine periods. Glancing at the content, the reader will be struck by the diachronic and spatial persistence of the use of seals for administrative and other purposes, and by their multi-functionality. Indeed, sealing practices appear to be at least as consistent as writing systems, from their first appearance to modern times. One of the reasons for their success is their ability to adapt to the diverse political, social and cultural pecularities of the multicultural societies at the time.

Excavations at Yanik Tepe were conducted by Charles A. Burney over three seasons from 1960 to 1962. The site is located to the northeast of Lake Urmia, some 20 km from Tabriz. This volume comprises the final report on the long sequences of stratigraphy and architecture belonging to the Early Trans-Caucasian (ETC) period which lasted from about 3000 BCE into the early second millennium. It is argued that the ETC people who founded the village came from a long tradition of settled farming. While the first phase, ETC I, is characterised by round houses and the second, ETC II, by agglutinative rectilinear building there is strong continuity in the use of space and, particularly, of built-in kitchen ranges. The descriptive text is enhanced by numerous photographs and line drawings. A concluding chapter makes pertinent comment on chronology and the place of Yanik Tepe within a wider setting. A foreword by Charles Burney provides colourful background to his pioneering excavations.

The arid areas of the Negev and Edom played a prominent role in the socio-economic and cultural development of the Iron Age civilizations of the southern Levant and northwestern Arabia, being at the interface of key trade routes, providing essential resources and developing cultic practices that spread to neighbouring regions. This volume comprises the papers presented at the symposium "Unearthing the Wilderness: Workshop on the History and Archaeology of the Negev and Edom in the Iron Age", held at the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, on 12 December 2010, and supplemented with studies from other leading scholars. Research questions include the socio-economic and political fluctuations in the arid margins of the southern Levant, southern Judah, and the northern Hejaz in the Iron Age, the exploitation of the copper mines of Timna under New Kingdom Egyptian and local control, the relationships between the southern Levant and the Arabian world as seen from the archaeological and epigraphic record, and the question of the "Edomite" pottery assemblage in late Iron Age Judah.